Further Education Lecturer careers guide and job profile – Get Into Teaching
Want to share your skills and inspire the next generation to do great things? Whatever real world experience and skills you have, there’s a job in Further Education to match!
Getting into Further Education Lecturer careers
If you have real-world industry experience, you already have what it takes to teach in further education (FE). Plus, you don’t always need teaching experience or an academic degree to get started. You can complete any required teaching qualifications once in your role.
Further Education Lecturers can teach alongside their job because it’s very flexible. Your job will be to teach students of all ages. Further Education means any post-16 qualification such as apprenticeships, but you’ll also work with younger students taking vocational courses.
How much money can you earn as a Further Education Lecturer?
These LMI Job Trends give you a sneak peek of how much you could earn starting out for this career, and how much your salary could grow with experience.
Average salary for teaching jobs
Recent labour market information says you can earn on average between £16,000 and £50,000 a year as a Further Education Lecturer in the UK. Your starting salary can vary because of factors like level of experience, training, location or the size of the company. Your salary as a Further Education Lecturer will increase over time as you build skills, knowledge, and experience.Childcare & Education Career FAQs & Insights
Is there something you’d like to know about childcare & education careers?
Skills you need to become a Further Education Lecturer
Useful skills to put in your CV:
- Creativity – this will help you design activities that are fun, inspirational and educational
- Sensitivity and understanding (learning can be hard for some more than others, and you’ll need to build their self-belief)
- To be able to create a positive learning environment
- Teamwork (you’ll need to work well with your students and other teachers)
- Patience and a cool, calm head to manage students and cope with any challenging behaviour
- Excellent communication skills (you’ll need to be able to build good relationships with students, parents and other teachers)
- IT skills (many schools now use software and digital tools for registers, accessing resources, and showing visual learning materials on a smart board)
- Self-management (you’ll need to keep track of your lessons and be responsible for all the students you teach)
Top Skills-boosting Tip
Use every opportunity to practise teaching others, whatever age they are. Help younger family members with their homework and projects, help your friends with studying, or teach anyone you know something new you find interesting. People have different ways they learn best, and you’ll build your ability to communicate, present and adapt.How Do You Get These Skills?
Vocational qualifications and work experience will help you build these skills over time.What Qualifications & Training Do You Need For Teaching Careers?
School and training
You can get into this job through:- a university course
- a college course
- an apprenticeship
- working towards this role
College
You could do a teaching qualification at college. Qualifications include:- Certificate in Education (Cert Ed)
- Level 5 Diploma in Education and Training
- Level 5 Diploma in Education and Training with a specialist pathway for teaching literacy, numeracy, English for Speakers of Other Languages (ESOL), or teaching disabled learners
BTECs
As an alternative to A-Levels, you can do BTECs from the age of 16. There are a number of BTEC subjects you might want to consider if you are interested in becoming a Further Education Lecturer. Any subjects relevant to what you want to teach will help you build the knowledge and skills you need. You’ll normally need 2 or more GCSEs at grades 9-3 (A*-D) or equivalent for a Level 2 or 3 course. If your qualifications are lower than this, you’ll most likely start on a Level 1 course.A-Levels
A Levels are academic qualifications that come after GCSEs. A Levels can be an ideal stepping stone to an advanced apprenticeship, a degree, a job, or going straight into a freelance career. You’ll normally need GCSEs at grade 4 (C) or above in English and Maths (and science if you want to teach primary). You can do any subjects that are relevant to what you want to teach.University degrees and graduates
You could do a further education (FE) teaching qualification, although this is not essential. Qualifications you could do include:- Certificate in Education (Cert Ed)
- Postgraduate Certificate in Post Compulsory Education and Training
- Postgraduate Certificate in Further Education and Training
Apprenticeships
An apprenticeship is a scheme where you train while earning a starting salary. With an apprenticeship (or advanced apprenticeship) you’ll have a paid job with an employer that includes structured training and learning. This training leads to an official qualification that’s recognised by employers as an industry standard. Anyone over 16 can study for an apprenticeship. You will normally need at least 5 GCSEs at grades 4-9 (A*-C) to study for an apprenticeship, including English and Maths. You could do a Learning and Skills Teacher Level 5 Higher Apprenticeship. You’ll usually need:- a qualification in the subject you want to teach
- up to date experience in your industry
- ability in English, maths and IT
T-Levels
T-Levels are a choice for learners after GCSEs alongside apprenticeships and A-levels. T Levels, an alternative to A-Levels, are qualifications in vocational, technical and hands-on subjects that you can choose to do after GCSEs instead of traditional academic qualifications. They include a mixture of classroom-based learning and industry placements where you can put your new skills into practice in real-world scenarios. A T Level in any relevant subject to what you want to teach will be useful.Career Progression
Where your career could take you…
- become a senior further education teacher, head of department or education programme co-ordinator
- become a training assessor or examiner
- write textbooks or online education resources
Get Into Teaching
Your favourite teacher started exactly where you are now. You are more of a teacher than you think!
What Work Experience Do You Need For Teaching Jobs?
Work Experience Tips
It can help you decide if this is the right career for you if you have previously done work experience in a teaching environment. Work experience in an education environment can also help you build useful skills. Examples of relevant work experience include:- Work shadowing (even if it’s just for a day)
- Work placements in a company
- Work experience placements on a college or university course
Volunteering Tips
Volunteering is a fantastic way to gain experience of working with young people, as so many volunteering opportunities can involve youth community work. When you volunteer with younger/older children you’ll need to get a DBS check to prove you can safeguard them appropriately. You’ll find it helpful to get some experience of working with younger/older children, though this is not essential. It will be useful to get experience through paid work or volunteering at a school or college. Check with local schools in your area for opportunities. Volunteering tipsWhat Does A Further Education Lecturer Do?
Being a Further Education Lecturer is a flexible job and you can teach full-time, part-time or even on an ad-hoc basis.
You’ll have a similar role to teachers, meaning you’ll plan lessons, mark work, and do everything you can to help students learn in the best way for them.
Example daily job responsibilities:
- teach students of different ages, abilities and backgrounds
- develop learning plans, provide feedback to learners and prepare them for assessments
- plan and teach classes or practical workshops, using technology where needed
- support students and refer them to other services, such as careers advisers or counsellors
- complete admin, like taking registers and ordering resources
- follow safeguarding and health and safety procedures
How To Find Further Education Lecturer Jobs: Next Steps
To find jobs for young people in this role, search on jobs boards for early career roles and opportunities with keywords like ‘Further Education Lecturer jobs’, ‘college lecturer vacancies’ or the name of the subject you want to teach like ‘business teacher jobs’.
You can take a look at our database of local opportunities to see if there are any relevant jobs, work placements, or careers events and workshops to help you get started. Create Your Future!
Local Opportunities
Schools and colleges can be owned by private organisations or by local government, so many local councils recruit for teachers for schools in the county themselves.
You can use the government website to find education and teaching opportunities near you.
The Department for Education also provide information on the many routes you could take and hold events across the UK so that you can talk to those who work in education or training providers. It’s a great opportunity to explore the ways you can get a job in teaching.
Get Into Teaching
Get Into Teaching Careers With Youth-Friendly Employers
These employers and organisations are here to help. They care about your potential and desire to learn, not just your qualifications and experience. They may be able to offer traineeships, apprenticeships, graduate schemes, first jobs, careers advice, wellbeing support and much more.Childcare & Education Career Tips & Opportunities
Childcare & Education Career Guides
View job descriptions with average UK salary, useful qualifications and a variety of routes into this career.
See All Our Youth-Friendly Employers
These employers all carry our Youth Friendly Employer Mark. We work with them to make sure that they are providing great support and opportunities to young people.
Click on an employer to find out more about them and the youth-friendly opportunities they offer, from work experience and apprenticeships through to graduate schemes.
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